Gavin Vondercrone

Sports Editor

Grammy-award-winning artist Tyler, The Creator released his eighth studio album “CHROMAKOPIA” on Monday, Oct. 28.

This is Tyler’s first album since his 2021 project, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.” The Grammy-winning project was very much seen as Tyler’s “victory lap,” with its boasts about his fortune, talent and widespread success.

Like he has throughout his career, Tyler chose to take a new direction on this most recent project. The album contains some of his most mature and vulnerable work to date, tackling themes of self-identity, aging, the fear of parenthood and paranoia. The record serves as a demonstration on Tyler’s current state of mind after recently turning 33 years old.

Tyler’s production on “CHROMAKOPIA” is (for the most part) excellent.

The instrumentals often contain many layers, and constantly evolve throughout each track. It doesn’t fall into any distinct sound. Instead, it draws inspiration from multiple different genres such as hip-hop, R&B, reggae and even heavy metal.

The performances on “CHROMAKOPIA” are pretty solid as well. Tyler himself is relatively consistent throughout the album, providing hard-hitting verses on multiple tracks. The guest appearances are decent, with a few standing out and the rest being fine or simply not having enough time.

There are multiple moments on this album where the sound can only be described as heavenly, with one of those being the outro on the song “I Killed You,” which features a smooth, reggae instrumental alongside some gorgeous vocals from Childish Gambino. The opening track “St. Chroma” features an incredible gospel-like chorus sung by Daniel Caesar.

While “CHROMAKOPIA” does have some very uplifting moments, it is not afraid to be mature and thought provoking as well. The track “Hey Jane” highlights the perspectives of a man and woman trying to figure out where their relationship will go following an unplanned pregnancy.

On the track “Like Him” Tyler discusses his thoughts on his mother constantly telling him that he reminds her of his father, who has been absent his entire life. He also discusses the idea of false personas and the way people portray themselves to others on the song “Take Your Mask Off.”

It wouldn’t be a Tyler, The Creator album, though, without its fair share of bangers, and “CHROMAKOPIA” absolutely delivers in that aspect.

The song “Rah Tah Tah” contains multiple great verses from Tyler over an incredibly ominous instrumental. On “Thought I was Dead” both Tyler and ScHoolboy Q put on excellent performances over a wild beat featuring multiple different horns and percussion.

The entirety of “Darling, I” will go down as a classic in Tyler’s catalog. The uplifting beat (which features a sample from Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot”), combined with a great performance by Tyler and beautiful background vocals from Teezo Touchdown makes this track an incredibly fun listen.

While “CHROMAKOPIA” does have its fair share of great moments, it is not without some weak points in the track list.

The instrumental on the song “Balloon” sounds like it came straight out of a “Roblox” game. A rare underwhelming performance from Tyler and guest performer Doechii doesn’t help the song’s case either.

The weakest track on the album is easily “Sticky.” It feels like an attempt to throw another banger into the mix, but the problem is that it feels out of place compared to the rest of the album. The song kicks off with an annoying whistle sample and features a bland chorus. While it does contain three good feature verses from the likes of GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne, each artist’s verse is incredibly short.

Despite these underwhelming tracks, “CHROMAKOPIA” flows well as an album, and is an enjoyable listen overall. It slides perfectly into what has grown into quite the discography for Tyler.

Is it on the level of something like “Igor”? Not quite. But that does not mean that this album is bad by any means. “CHROMAKOPIA” is another great project by Tyler, The Creator. It showcases not only how far he’s come as an artist, but as a person as well.